The pro-Palestinian encampment will continue to “expand” as long as McGill University does not present a “concrete timetable” for divestment.
“We are ready to go when we have concrete disinvestment from them,” said a representative of the camp during a press briefing on Monday.
A meeting had taken place a few hours earlier between management and the demonstrators, who have been camping on the university grounds for ten days.
“They gave us neither a concrete timeline nor a concrete process,” she continued.
Management requested police intervention last week to evict the campers, promising at the same time to open a discussion forum if they left the premises.
“Opening a potential discussion on a potential forum does not mean taking our requests seriously,” replied the spokesperson.
Without a timeline, the encampment will continue to grow its ranks, she added.
The demonstrators, including Jewish and Arab students, are demanding that their administration cut all financial or academic ties with Israel.
Funds placed in the arms manufacturer Lockheed Martin – which supplied combat planes to the Israeli army – are particularly denounced.
Contacted by The Pressmanagement did not immediately react.
Calm reigned around the camp on Monday, like the previous days. After the rain, the demonstrators took advantage of the respite granted by the good weather.
“Morale is good, energy is good,” testified one of them, who did not wish to be identified.
In recent days, it has become more difficult to get equipment to campers.
Supporters bringing canopies, sleeping bags and even a box of sanitary masks were denied access to campus by security officers, observed The Press.
“They refuse blankets, tents… They only accept food,” denounced a demonstrator.
At the entrance to the university, students distributed pamphlets at the start of the day announcing a rally for “peace”.
The event, organized by the evangelical Good News Chapel Church, attracted around twenty people, gathered in an amphitheater at the university.
“We are trying to celebrate and promote peace,” summarized a spokesperson for the event, Matthew Fernandez.
“In Montreal, we have Arab communities, Jewish communities. Everything that happens in the world has an effect here,” he added, deploring the tensions observed on campuses.